Vanishing Cod

My recreational cod fishing days are over. After years of great success, I returned to my predictably successful fishing spot one year to find only one undersized cod during this annual trip. The next three years were worse with not a cod fish to be found. The fish in this painting look as shocked as I was when I realized that the cod had simply vanished. I intentionally left the center of this painting empty to symbolize this unfortunate turn of events. In fact, I considered leaving this painting as a textural underwater habitat devoid of cod with the same title. But as an eternal optimist hopeful for their recovery, I portray these iconic fish as I remember them.